(Image from Facebook / PNP)
MANILA, Philippines — Philippine National Police (PNP) officer-in-charge Lt. Gen. Vicente Danao Jr. has called for cooler heads among political rivals amid a recent spate of election-related violence in various parts of the country, asking camps to prevent violence.
“Unang-una, ang akin pong paalala sa atin pong mga kandidato to please let your cooler heads prevail. ‘Wag po nating hayaan na dumanak po ang dugo sa opposing parties, ang atin pong kapulisan are scattered, lahat po doon sa kanya-kanyang area lalong-lalo na po do’n sa mga hotly-contested areas,” Danao said.
“And we would like to assure the voting community to please go out and vote wisely, at ang inyo pong seguridad ay aming pangangalagaan,” he added.
Voting precincts opened earlier, at 6:00 a.m., for the 2022 general elections.
Danao also assured that elections in Pikit, North Cotabato will push through despite teachers backing out from being members of the board of election inspectors.
“Definitely the elections will push through, irregardless of what reason but ang atin pong kapulisan doon in coordination with all the government agencies, lalong-lalo na sa AFP, Comelec, and DepEd, tuloy po ‘yong botohan ngayon doon unless there will be other impending reasons,” he said.
The PNP recently said that there are fewer election-related incidents for this election season, with only 53 cases compared to the 133 incidents in 2016.
Days before the May 9 elections, however, violent incidents were reported in Ilocos Sur, Maguindanao and other parts of the country.